Youri Tielemans reveals the moment he fell in love with football | OneFootball

We all have a time in our life when that love for football turned into an absolute passion.

For this author, though my life had already been completely football mad, that moment came when Cristiano Ronaldo hit that sensational free-kick against Portsmouth back in 2008 that left David James smiling in amazement.

For Youri Tielemans, that moment came at a young age, when the sports-driven Belgian witnessed his idol, Zinedine Zidane, finish his footballing career in the 2006 World Cup.

“When I was younger, I really just enjoyed what I was doing,” Tielemans told Leicester’s official website.

“I played football and we didn’t have sports on TV, so it was difficult to watch games when I was at home.

“I really looked up to first-team players at Anderlecht, and Zinédine Zidane, but that was more when I started to realise I could become a professional – that I could do something in football.

“My first memory of football was the 2006 World Cup. I was nine-years-old, almost 10. It was in Germany, and it was beautiful.

“That’s when I really started to watch football day and night – I’d watch football videos on YouTube and play and watch football whenever I could.

“I really enjoyed it, and before that, I’d always enjoyed sports in general.

“I did judo, football, basketball and a bit of tennis as well. I really tried to do something. I have to move, I’m quite an active guy, and so football was really the one that I chose to continue with.”

“I stopped judo when I was 16 when I had my first professional contract. Up until 16, I was a blue belt. I was quite good at it, and if I had done more, I’d have been higher.”

While he may not do judo anymore, we think Tielemans made the right decision.